PERSONS OF INTEREST:
Station 37-H Experimental Artificial Intelligence (Zeti) – an experimental AI created by the Holy Terran Empire’s Ordained Scientists at Project Osiris, sent to Station 37-H for testing and evaluation.
Demon 08 Helix (Lukas) – a genetically engineered super soldier from the Holy Terran Empire who serves as the combat techno-medic of MASS Demon;
Knight Protector Alexandra von Eisstahl – the only person to obtain both the Snake and Sword crests for her service to the United Republics, dispatched to Last Hope to arrest Overseer Oliver Tharks and to serve as interim Overseer in his place.
Major Khalid – commander of the 26-man strong platoon of Innari shock troopers, permanently serving as Knight Protector von Eisstahl’s personal guards;
Chief of Security Donovan Rex – a former criminal who graduated from the Academy at the top of his class as an Officer with the rank of Lieutenant, currently serving as the Chief of Security on Mining Complex Last Hope under Overseer Oliver Tharks.
Commodore Alexei Neverok – the oldest active Commodore within the United Republics, has been serving as Commodore on Last Hope for the last 60 years;
Commodore Agent Monic Scrota – an Agent of Commodore Neverok on Last Hope, serving as a torturer and interrogator thanks to her being a Lower Class II psionic;
Second Officer Zoë Kurtz – a fresh graduate from the Academy, was sent as a form of punishment to serve as the only Second Officer directly under the Chief of Security Rex;
Communications Technician Felix King – a hulking beast of a man who is the de facto head of the Security Techs on Last Hope and the only Communications Specialist on the mining complex;
Doctor of Surgery and Medicine Hiroshi Saiko – former field medic of the United Republics’ 21st Jäggers orbital drop troopers currently serving as both doctor and surgeon to the mining complex’s Security Force, with a side practice as a doctor for the civilian residents of Last Hope;
Professor of Crypto-analysis Anton Kruger – a professor from the Science Wing of the Academy, specialised in crypto-analysis, decryption, encoding and conservation of Third Empire and ancient technology and former lecturer and teacher of Dr Werner;
Doctor of Techno-archaeology Virginia Werner – a techno-archaeologist from the Science Wing of the Academy, specialised in the excavation, maintenance and restoration of old Third Empire and ancient technology sent to Last Hope as the head of a team tasked with exploring the mining complex; obsessed with the search for Lost Technology;
Maintenance Tech Marcus – a cybernetically augmented tech who is the head of the team tasked with maintaining the battle-frame Scolia and a friend and confidant of Knight Protector von Eisstahl.
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HUMAN STELLAR DOMAINS:
Holy Terran Empire – A powerful interstellar empire created by the inhabitants of Earth (renamed Hell after several devastating conflicts) and one of the three most powerful entities in the galaxy at the time. Also known as The Second Terran Empire.
Third Terran Empire – Created at the end of the Human-Xith war after the rebellion of Commodore Lilyana Neverok and the de facto successor of the remains of the Holy Terran Empire. Also referred to as the Third Empire.
United Republics – A conglomerate of 23 semi-autonomous human nations who rebelled against the Third Terran Empire and were officially recognised as a sovereign state at the end of the Liberation Wars.
Jubal Consortium – A technocratic stellar domain created after the end of the Liberation Wars by a group of systems who refused to join with the United Republics.
Khanate of Monika the Conqueror – A loose collection of pirate groups controlling the region of space at the edge of human-controlled space, bordering various alien system-states
and larger stellar domains.
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PSIONIC CLASSES:
Holy Terran Empire:
* Spirit – a person who registers as a psionic but has no actual psionic powers;
* Myling – a person who registers as a psionic and can sense emotions while in close proximity to others;
* Wraith – a psionic who can actively read other people’s thoughts and, on rare occasions, exhibit slight telekinetic capabilities;
* Banshee – a psionic who can manipulate thoughts and has full telekinetic capabilities;
* Preta – a psionic who can completely replace personalities and memories of others, has full telekinetic capabilities, and, with some difficulty, can convert their psionic powers into basic elements such as fire, water, earth, etc.;
* Aswang – a powerful psionic who can convert their psionic powers into basic elements and, with some difficulty, into more complex ones such as electricity, plasma, localised singularity, etc.;
* Ghoul – a powerful psionic who can manifest complex elements such as electricity, plasma, localised singularity, etc. with ease;
* Revenant – a very powerful psionic that can manipulate most elements from the periodic table to varying degrees;
* Void Siren – an extremely powerful psionic that can freely manipulate all known elements from the periodic table and can circumvent the laws of chemistry and physics (humans who reach this class do not survive longer than a month before their powers kill them);
* Oblivion – a psionic who wields catastrophic powers that can bend reality to their will and allow for a limited degree of time manipulations (up to several minutes at most).
Humans cannot become Oblivion Class psionics because, in theory, such a level of power will destroy a human mind within a second after awakening.
Third Terran Empire:
* Class I – a person who registers as a psionic and can sense surface-level emotions while in close proximity to others;
* Lower Class II – a person who registers as a psionic and can sense deep or suppressed emotions while in close proximity to others;
* Upper Class II – a person who registers as a psionic who can freely detect others’ emotions and read surface-level thoughts;
* Class III – a psionic who can read and manipulate thoughts and exhibits limited telekinetic capabilities;
* Lower Class IV - a psionic who can freely read and manipulate thoughts at a distance and exhibits limited telekinetic capabilities;
* Mid Class IV - a psionic who can freely read and manipulate thoughts at a distance and has full telekinetic capabilities;
* Upper Class IV - a psionic who can completely replace personalities and memories of others, has full telekinetic capabilities, and, with some difficulty, can convert their psionic powers into basic elements such as fire, water, earth, etc.;
* Class V – a very powerful psionic who can, in addition to converting their psionic powers into basic elements such as fire, water, earth, etc., can also manifest complex elements such as electricity, plasma, localised singularity, etc.;
* Unclassifiable – any powerful psionic who is above Class V is marked as Unclassifiable.
The United Republics, Jubal Consortium, the Khanate of Monika the Conqueror, and the other smaller human nations formed after the Liberation Wars use the same classification system as the Third Empire.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
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TERMS AND RANKS:
Blessed Saint of Hell – the title given to the Emperor of the Holy Terran Empire as both head of state and head of the dominant religious sect.
Church of the Third Hell – the dominant religious sect of the Holy Terran Empire, which is formed around the idea of theological science that combines basic scientific principles, education and social principles into a form of strict religious teachings.
Kōng Cathedral – one of the three main semi-independent religious sects of the Holy Terran Empire, focused on spreading xenophobic teaching and proclaiming human supremacy and one of the few institutions allowed to use psionics as part of its militarised clergy;
* Black Confessor – a psionically gifted soldier of the Kōng Cathedral trained in using psi-locked slaves.
* Psi-locked slave – a person (usually an apostate or a criminal or with a suspended death sentence) who has had their mind linked and dominated to a Black Confessor.
Blue Bible Group – one of the three main semi-independent religious sects of the Holy Terran Empire, founded on the teachings of the few remaining religious texts of old religions originating from Earth. Although officially a pacifist movement, it is focused on routing out psionics with the use of a network of secretive pseudo-military cells.
St Suleiman’s Monks – one of the three main semi-independent religious sects of the Holy Terran Empire, formed by a splintered group of Church of the Third Hell and Blue Bible Group followers who follow the teachings of St Suleiman, known for aiding any and all civilian void-vessels which have suffered an accident or an attack while traversing between the stars.
The Academy – A semi-independent institution in control of all military wings of the United Republics, it is also in control of recruiting and training of all soldiers and internal security (police). Its Science Wing, although originally dedicated to the advancement of military technology, has slowly replaced most other scientific and educational institutions within the United Republics.
Command – A Holy Terran Empire term referring to both the overall command structure of the imperial military and the person in charge of a military unit.
MASS DEMON – Mobile Assault and Sabotage Squad Demon is an elite group of the Holy Teran Empire made of genetically engineered soldiers consisting of the Demons (the Assault part) and the Oni (the Sabotage part):
* Demons – genetically engineered operatives specialised in assault and destruction of targets, although each demon has a specific specialisation:
* Demon 01 Puppeteer – commander, tactician and strategist;
* Demon 02 Preacher – communications, electronic warfare and information specialist;
* Demon 03 Lucifer – energy-based weapons specialist;
* Demon 04 Carthage – artillery and explosives specialist;
* Demon 05 Rage – assault specialist with a focus on close-ranged combat;
* Demon 06 Discharge – assault specialist with a focus on mid-range combat;
* Demon 07 Hornet – assault specialist with a focus on long-range combat;
* Demon 08 Helix – field medic and technical maintenance of cybernetic implants and equipment;
All Demons, regardless of their individual specialisation, have undergone extensive general combat training, which makes them, at the very least, equal to any elite human or terran soldier of the Holy Empire’s military.
* Oni – between 8 and 16 genetically engineered operatives of MAAS Demon specialised in infiltration and sabotage, an inferior version of the Demons who can pass for humans during a genetic scan.
Due to the complicated and resource-intensive process required in their creation, only 50 squads of generation 3 Demons were ever created and reinforced with later generations of Demons and Oni at the height of the Holy Terran Empire’s power. By the time generation 9 began to appear, only a single MASS DEMON remained.
Terran – a person originating from the inhabitants of Hell (Earth). Although stronger and more durable than a human, terrans have evolved a vast number of mutations to survive the inhospitable surface of Hell. They can survive up to two years off-world without significant risks to their health. More than that, their bodies will begin to undergo rampant mutation, which can lead to death within two months or 12 months if they undergo extensive genetic therapy and medical care.
Human – all members of the species homo sapiens who live outside of Hell (Earth). Due to extensive genetic and cybernetic augmentation, humans have stopped evolving and adapting to their environment. The only notable exceptions are rare cases of 3rd generation and onward individuals born in space (whose parents have not stepped on a planet’s surface for an extended period of time) who exhibit signs of natural evolution.
Latent Psionic – a person (human) or an individual (alien species) who shows signs of dormant psionic powers.
Awakened Psionic - a person (human) or an individual (alien species) who has gained control over their psionic powers
Psi-witch – a term used by the Holy Terran Empire which encompasses unsanctioned psionically gifted humans, rogue psionically gifted humans and psionically gifted individuals of other species within the galaxy.
Ordained Scientist – scientists from the Holy Terran Empire are considered to be part of the clergy, and in order for them to work in their respective fields, they have to become ordained first.
Geno-Bishop – a high-ranking genetic engineer within the Holy Terran Empire outside of the exclusive ranks of the Church of the Third Hell.
Techno-Cardinal – the highest ranking possible for a cybernetic engineer within the Holy Terran Empire, without joining the exclusive ranks of the Church of the Third Hell.
Tech – a general term used for any person who works a support job in a technical field.
Geno-Tech – a person who specialises in advanced human genetic engineering and genetic enhancements.
AI – artificial intelligence with restricted functions and limited or no self-awareness, which is used predominantly in assisting techs in controlling civilian and military void ships, space stations, heavy and specialised equipment.
Control AI – fully independent, self-aware artificial intelligence with virtually limitless potential for growth. Due to increased risks of a Control AI going rogue and becoming homicidal, research and development of Control AIs is strictly limited and regulated within the Holy Terran Empire and outright forbidden within the Third Empire.
Commodore (Holy Terran Empire) – A special title given to Lilyana Neverok as the only member of the imperial family to take command of a Holy Terran Empire strike fleet during the Human-Xith war.
Commodore (United Republics) – a revived title from the Third Terran Empire, given to the high-ranking officers of the Academy’s agency that works as both military counterintelligence and secret police within the United Republics.
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